When the Salvation Army first arrived in Moose Jaw, to say the city was still in its infancy would be a bit of an understatement.
The Canadian Pacific rail line had only been laid in Saskatchewan six years earlier, and the now-bustling modern community was little more than a gathering of shacks and buildings in support of the ongoing railway expansion west.
But there the service organization was, itself in its earliest years of existence, helping those who needed help, improving lives as best they could and taking the first steps into becoming the worldwide force for good they are today.
Now, 134 years later, the Salvation Army remains as strong as ever in Moose Jaw.
And this past weekend was a time to celebrate.
Maj. Mike Hoeft, area commander for Saskatchewan, joined Lieut. Lester Ward and Lieut. Almeta Ward for a special edition of their Sunday service as the Salvation Army looked back to their earliest days in 1888 and how things have continued to grow and progress in the years since.
“We just kind of keep doing what we do, we're here, we're still serving the people of Moose Jaw and still serving the people of this congregation,” Hoeft said after greeting members of the church who took part in the service. “No matter how you look at it, 134 years is a long history, with lots of people coming in and out of the ranks in Moose Jaw, and it’s become quite a thriving enterprise. Not only with the congregational aspect of it, but serving the people in the community with everything we’ve done over the years.”
To get an idea of how fresh the idea of the Salvation Army was when it arrived in Moose Jaw, the organization had only first hit Canadian shores in 1882, and had only come into existence in England in 1865 -- not long after the American Civil War had ended.
Since then, the goal has been the same: spread the word of the Lord while doing everything in their power to better the lives of others less fortunate.
“We just do our best to be the feet and the hands of Jesus in the community,” Hoeft said. “We do tend to do a lot of stuff, and when we sit back and kind of look at all the things that are going on, for the size of the group that we are, there’s lots of energy being expended, lots of people being served and that’s what we want to do.”
Hoeft delivered a special sermon at the Sunday service titled ‘A Firm Foundation’, which touched on keeping the foundation of all Christian religions -- the word of God -- forefront in one’s mind regardless of what congregation you’re a part of.
“The foundation of the work that we do in these jobs is the church,” Hoeft later said. “It’s where we get our source of strength and inspiration and motivation to go out and serve the people in the communities.”
Now, the focus turns to the next 134 years and continuing their hard work throughout Saskatchewan and beyond.
“You look at Moose Jaw expand it across 15 communities in the province, there’s so much,” Hoeft said. “Everything from long-term care to men's shelters, to girls' homes, to thrift stores and Family Services and food banks and churches and even then we're rather small. But we have great people doing great work, and it’s really significant, the number of people being touched and lives being changed.”
For more on the Salvation Army in Moose Jaw, their ongoing works and regular updates, check out their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TheSalvationArmyInMooseJaw/.
